Brainlag MusicA second inversion needs a reason: cadential, passing or auxiliary, how to recognise each and how to write it.
Why a six-four needs a reason
A second inversion has a 4th above the bass, and the 4th sounds unstable over a bass note.
So a six-four chord appears only where its bass is explained by what is around it. There are three such places, and only three.
Learn the three six-fours by heart
- Cadential: Ic over the dominant bass, just before V (the last lesson).
- Passing: the bass moves by step through the six-four, with the same chord on either side.
- Auxiliary: the bass stays still while the upper parts step up and back down.
- In every one, double the bass note.
The rest of this lesson and its 4 practice questions are in Brainlag Music Theory.
Screen 1 of 5, free to read.
- 4 exam-style questions, marked as you go, each with a worked solution
- Anything you get wrong is saved to your flashcards